Short Interest in Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) Declines By 14.0%

Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,994,376 shares, a decline of 14.0% from the February 26th total of 5,810,277 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,499,827 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Insider Activity at Hexcel

In related news, insider Amy S. Evans sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.80, for a total transaction of $139,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $183,651.20. The trade was a 43.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hexcel

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HXL. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Hexcel by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 421,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,458,000 after buying an additional 86,625 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 124.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 347,156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $21,767,000 after acquiring an additional 192,190 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 12.6% in the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 403,881 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,323,000 after acquiring an additional 45,061 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hexcel during the third quarter worth about $1,410,000. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hexcel by 5.5% during the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,334,649 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $83,682,000 after acquiring an additional 69,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HXL has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Hexcel in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hexcel in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of Hexcel from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Hexcel from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group set a $99.00 target price on Hexcel in a report on Friday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.27.

Hexcel Price Performance

Shares of HXL opened at $82.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 59.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Hexcel has a 1-year low of $45.28 and a 1-year high of $95.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.15.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $491.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $484.46 million. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 9.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Hexcel has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hexcel will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Hexcel Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Hexcel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Hexcel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

About Hexcel

Hexcel Corporation is a global leader in advanced composite materials for aerospace and industrial applications. The company specializes in the development and manufacture of lightweight, high-performance products that enhance fuel efficiency, durability and structural strength. Its offerings are critical to the aerospace sector, where demand for lighter, more efficient aircraft drives continuous innovation in materials.

Hexcel’s product portfolio encompasses carbon fiber reinforcements, pre-impregnated composites (prepregs), honeycomb core, engineered adhesives and structural film adhesives.